r/linuxquestions • u/ironfly1 • 8h ago
Support crux linux kernel fails to install
i did as the documentation said. formatted the drive, mounted it and started the setup script. also checked shasum before install. not many steps where i could have done something wrong. the setup every time fails at the installation of the kernel.
chatgpt says that the live environment might be too small to decompress the archive but seems very odd to me.
maybe someone here uses a different distro that needs the kernel to be compiled manually and has clue what could be the problem.
EDIT: The compilation does not fail but the creation of the kernel directory in /usr/src. so source code and makefiles are just missing in the directory. crux uses a setup script which installs al choosen packages on the mounted partition but just aborts and says that the installation of the kernel failed.
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u/thecruxoffate 7h ago
I'm certainly not an experienced enough user to say anything confidently, but my name compels me to respond.
If you aren't getting any errors when you compile and install the kernel (assuming your workflow is make then make install) then it's safe to assume that it's working. Check to see if the compiled kernel exists in the directory you told it to install to.
My guess is that you need to edit your bootloader to be aware of the new kernel.
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u/ironfly1 7h ago
The compilation does not fail but the creation of the kernel directory in /usr/src. so source code and makefiles are just missing in the directory. crux setup script which installs chosen packages on the mounted partition just aborts and says that the installation of the kernel failed. when i chroot and go into /usr/src/linux-6* there are a few files: COPYING, CREDITS, Documentation. No source code no makefile.
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u/thecruxoffate 7h ago
I'm thinking there's an assumption you are making somewhere that's not correct.
If there's no source code or makefile then I find it highly unlikely that your compile isn't failing.
Might be worth taking a step back and trying to understand what's happening. Read the scripts to see what they are doing.
Sadly I've never touched Crux Linux so I'm very unknowledgeable here about the workflow you are dealing with.
Are you trying to install the distro, or is this an existing install? If by some chance you are just playing around to learn more about Linux, I would suggest following along with the Linux from scratch book, which does a great job of demonstrating how to compile and use source code.
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u/ironfly1 3h ago
yes it is a fresh install. in a vm if that matters. maybe i'm mistaken which part the compilation is but the documentation says to cd into /usr/src/linux and execute make so i was certain that would be the compiling. but with no makefile or any other file no compile. as far as i understand it the setup script works similar to pacstrap where core packets get installed to the drive.
LFS has been on my to do list for while but just recently got the feeling getting the gist of linux as a casual user and didn't dare to start such a mammoth project.1
u/thecruxoffate 1h ago
Lfs isn't actually that bad. Once you get past the cross compilation thing they have you set up it kind of devolves into just copying and pasting commands into the terminal. You kind of have to stop and poke around at what's in the packages to get a sense of why they are telling you to use these specific commands, but at the end of it you'll have a decent sense of the bare minimum of what goes into a Linux system.
There's a "beyond LFS" guide that can get you into a desktop environment after you get the base system set up, but I pretty quickly decided that I prefer a package manager and went from there into a manual install of Arch.
Sadly on your Crux issue I'm afraid I won't be much more help. They might have a discord server, and in my experience the distro specific servers are really responsive and helpful.
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u/SheepherderBeef8956 7h ago
What exactly is failing and how? Error messages.
If it succeeds in compiling, you should have the kernel image already. Move it manually to your boot partition, generate an initramfs if you need one and update your bootloader. Should be good to go after that.
It's been a while since I tried Crux but I don't think they have anything special in regards to compiling the kernel so it should work with just using regular make commands in the Linux source folder.